And by the interface I mean the interface in my head.
Developing an online software solution to an everyday problem means you need to look at the critical aspects of the brand being developed alongside the application.
What do we want this function to say? What do we want this design element to mean to our users? Does the look, feel or function of this little bit conflict with any of the other little bits that make up the whole? How do we want to communicate with our users through this interface, and how do we want them to communicate with us?
Without a physical product or presence, the application needs to clearly reveal what meaning the brand has – there are no other outlets for projection of brand values and meaning that you wholly control at the startup-infancy stage. The difficulty is in finding the clarity in that in amongst the mash of building new features. And having the design skills to portray the meaning, or intent, of the interface to the end user.
Because in a world where nothing is tangible in a physical sense, brand and function are inextricably intertwined in the web application space. One cannot exist without the other in a successful web application – completely unlike ‘true’ physical brands.
